I've had enough of Luke Willson...

[SomersetHawk]

I think I saw that Helfet got something like 17 offensive snaps against the Raiders. That's way too little IMO and whilst his blocking leaves something to be desired he's consistently been able to get open and provide Russ with a target; particularly when he's extending plays.

Willson had 60 snaps (I think) and only managed one catch. I know he offers improved blocking, but I'd rather see Helfet eat into those snaps. If we're valuing competition, then I'd have thought Helfet's earned more than he got on Sunday, nearly a quarter of Luke's.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

..................Here's the cold hard facts on Willson

DAVIS HSU ‏@DavisHsuSeattle 1h1 hour ago
Grey says TE Luke Willson has 15 targets and 4 catches last two weeks

Ouch. I knew it wasn't good but didn't know it was this poor. Hawks will drafting a TE by round 3 in May.

I really thought we'd bring in a TE free agent in the off season. I know we looked at quite a few, but holy moly are we thin with talent at TE. Willson might turn into a more dependable option, but as of now on a team that's competing we just don't have the time to wait for him to figure it out or not.

We all love Miller, but dude hasn't been able to stay healthy in years. Just can't count on him anymore.

 

[rideaducati]

..................Here's the cold hard facts on Willson

DAVIS HSU ‏@DavisHsuSeattle 1h1 hour ago
Grey says TE Luke Willson has 15 targets and 4 catches last two weeks

Ouch. I knew it wasn't good but didn't know it was this poor. Hawks will drafting a TE by round 3 in May.

How many of those times he was targeted was the throw on target? My guess is three.

 

[Jville]

Singling out for criticism a Luke Willson or Zach Miller or Cooper Helfet or any other tight end one might care to name is not going to fix anything. I don't believe the heart of reception disappointments lies with the tightends.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

..................Here's the cold hard facts on Willson

DAVIS HSU ‏@DavisHsuSeattle 1h1 hour ago
Grey says TE Luke Willson has 15 targets and 4 catches last two weeks

Ouch. I knew it wasn't good but didn't know it was this poor. Hawks will drafting a TE by round 3 in May.

How many of those times he was targeted was the throw on target? My guess is three.

Wilson definitely overthrew Luke a couple times, one for a TD against Oakland..........but Willson also had a bunch of drops.

So if I had to guess, out of the 15 targets, Willson should have caught at least 8-10 of those. I can think of four just in the Oakland game where he could have caught the ball but didn't.

 

[Jville]

I reviewed the first half. The first media alleged drop in the back of the left end zone was too high and long. Luke's momentum carried him out of the end zone before his feet came down.

Later in a pass to the right side, the announcer suggested Luke jumped to soon on an overthrown pass. Russell Wilson hung on to the ball until a pass rusher showed up in his face. Russell put more air and hang time into the pass than what they practiced. Why hang the receiver and excuse the quarterback?

I suppect the last two Seahawk games have played out notably different than what they practiced and rehearsed earlier in the week. I also think it obvious that Russell Wilson has not played his best ball over the last two weeks.

I see a Payton Manning's passing offense that often makes receivers and linemen look much better than does the Russell Wilson / Darrell Bevell passing offense. The Russell Wilson/Darrell Bevell passing game is not elite. There are still plenty of growing pains to learn from and progress thru.

 

[rideaducati]

How many of those times he was targeted was the throw on target? My guess is three.

Wilson definitely overthrew Luke a couple times, one for a TD against Oakland..........but Willson also had a bunch of drops.

So if I had to guess, out of the 15 targets, Willson should have caught at least 8-10 of those. I can think of four just in the Oakland game where he could have caught the ball but didn't.

I suggest you go back and look again. Sure, he got his hands on some balls, but not many people would have even gotten their hands on a lot of those. Try running full speed and catching a ball thrown behind you. Now think how difficult it would be to do it at 250+ pounds. I would also like to see you attempt to hold on to a catch if you were blasted by two NFL players just as a ball hits your hands. I think you're being a little tough on the guy. Pay attention to the athleticism it even took for him to get close enough for you to call them drops.

 

[rideaducati]

How many of those times he was targeted was the throw on target? My guess is three.

Wilson definitely overthrew Luke a couple times, one for a TD against Oakland..........but Willson also had a bunch of drops.

So if I had to guess, out of the 15 targets, Willson should have caught at least 8-10 of those. I can think of four just in the Oakland game where he could have caught the ball but didn't.

[/quote]

I suggest you go back and look again. Sure, he got his hands on some balls, but not many people would have even gotten their hands on a lot of those. Try running full speed and catching a ball thrown behind you. Now think how difficult it would be to do it at 250+ pounds. I would also like to see you attempt to hold on to a catch if you were blasted by two NFL players just as a ball hits your hands. I think you're being a little tough on the guy. Pay attention to the athleticism it even took for him to get close enough for you to call them drops.

 

[Recon_Hawk]

The problem I think is that people had way to high expectations for Willson because of his speed and pro-day numbers. Just think of the number of posts of people asking, "why do we need a big, tall receiver? Look at WIlson's Pro Day results. He could be our big receiver threat!"

They are forgetting that there is a natural part of playing the receiver position. With it, you can run a bad 40 time and still make near impossible catches like Zach Miller. Without it, you struggle to pull in the difficult, but catchable balls.

I don't mean to sound hard on the guy, but he's showing who he is - A threat to make a big play down field because of his speed, but not the dependable every down #1 tightend who you rely on to make clutch plays.

 

[bigDhawk]

Does Willson make this catch?...

Not a chance from what I've seen. To my eyes enough of a pattern has been established to determine he has below average receiving talent. He is also at best an average NFL blocker and to my knowledge he is not a significant special teams contributor (correct me if I'm wrong on that last point). All this adds up to a player who shouldn't belong on a championship roster, but because of his low cost and latent SPARQy potential will probably hang around long enough to see RFA. More drops are coming. Suck it up.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

The problem I think is that people had way to high expectations for Willson because of his speed and pro-day numbers. Just think of the number of posts of people asking, "why do we need a big, tall receiver? Look at WIlson's Pro Day results. He could be our big receiver threat!".

I do not have high expectations of Willson. My only expectations of him is to make the catches a pro TE should make on a consistent basis.............and he hasn't done that. Too many drops. Period.

 

[jammerhawk]

There was a period when Golden Tate dropped a lot of balls thrown to him. Tate got over it the following season and became a dependable and reliable receiver. I suspect Willson needs to practice catching more balls and practice catching contested balls. Time with the JUGS machine is needed, and work done in strengthening his hands wouldn't hurt as well.

It's far too soon to be writing this young player off, he has solid physical ability but unfortunately has been inconsistent at catching the ball. He flashes interesting skill improving his catching ability is something the team can work on improving..

 

[HawkWow]

..................Here's the cold hard facts on Willson

DAVIS HSU ‏@DavisHsuSeattle 1h1 hour ago
Grey says TE Luke Willson has 15 targets and 4 catches last two weeks

Ouch. I knew it wasn't good but didn't know it was this poor. Hawks will drafting a TE by round 3 in May.

I really thought we'd bring in a TE free agent in the off season. I know we looked at quite a few, but holy moly are we thin with talent at TE. Willson might turn into a more dependable option, but as of now on a team that's competing we just don't have the time to wait for him to figure it out or not.

We all love Miller, but dude hasn't been able to stay healthy in years. Just can't count on him anymore.

And that's why Harvin is like herpes: The gift that just keeps on giving.

Signing Zach to a 2 year deal (an insulting offer at that, imo) you would have thought we would have looked to a very good TE that we easily could have had in last year's draft. But because of the strain known as Harvin, we had to go with Richardson, instead. I do understand the general consensus was "we need a BIG WR", but as it turns out, we weren't looking for that at all....there was one of those within reach as well.

You get the impression Bevell and Pete had made up their minds they wanted..A Harvin. Whether his name was Harvin or Richardson. It would be easy to believe that like a couple mad scientists, they worked feverishly on a playbook that included such a player. So with their minds finally made up that Harvin was toast, they refused to abandon that playbook, and decided to draft the player most resembling Percy Harvin.

I do think the Richardson pick will pay dividends, but with only so many balls to go around anyway, I'm unsure that pick shouldn't have been used elsewhere. Just my opinion, but it is impossible to really know how damaging the acquisition of Harvin was, and continues to be, to this franchise. As predicted.

 

[jammerhawk]

I'll bet his coaches were on Willson to get to work with the JUGS machine. Frankly am not too upset with a 2nd year player who is raw at his position having alligator arms or the dropsies. That said he needs to do better than he has so far this season.

 

[jammerhawk]

Another reality is that Willson has never been the go to guy at TE and is suddenly now in that position with Zach out. He needs more time to grow into being a reliable pass catcher. Undoubtedly we'll be more frustrated with him as the year progresses unless he starts becoming more sure handed but we need to remember he is a young player and still somewhat raw.

There is an awful lot of hyperbole here surrounding several players, Willson is this week's whipping boy. If he was to have a good game next week all will be forgiven, but another will be that week's whipping boy. I'm not sure when the tide will change from the food of negativity about the team's prospects, we are 12s though and need to be more positive. They are 5-3 after 8 games, 2nd in the division and have lost 2 close games that if both had gone the other way the team would be 7-1. Some here would be wise to step back from the ledge, it's still early and the team is still competing. The division is still easily w/in reach.

Sure there areas that could be significantly improved, and sure the penalties and mistakes are frustrating to watch but there is a good young team here. The team could become more talented than last year's version with a few health returns and them coming together a bit. Let's all repudiate negativity and be more positive for a while. A nice streak here of 4 games or 5 will do wonders for everyone. Keep the faith my friends!

 

[chet380]

What a difference a week makes --

Clutch catch near the goal line vs. Carolina for the win -- HERO!!

A few missed catches in an ugly win -- BUM!! A COMPLETE BUST!!

How about everyone taking a deep breath and giving the kid a chance .. he's OUR GUY until Miller recovers.

 

[sturg78]

What a difference a week makes --

Clutch catch near the goal line vs. Carolina for the win -- HERO!!

A few missed catches in an ugly win -- BUM!! A COMPLETE BUST!!

How about everyone taking a deep breath and giving the kid a chance .. he's OUR GUY until Miller recovers.

He dropped a few passes in the Carolina game before his clutch one. Also, Braylon Edwards made a clutch catch against the Patriots but we don't want him or Willson getting the game winner thrown to them. We saw how that worked out with Edwards against AZ week one 3 years ago.

That being said, Willson has wheels. If he learned how to catch he would be dangerous!

 

[King Dog]

I understand Willson is a backup being thrust into a starting role, but I would be way more comfortable with McCoy playing right now. Sure he dropped a few, but it seems like Willson always drops the ball when he takes a lick.

 

[-The Glove-]

What a difference a week makes --

Clutch catch near the goal line vs. Carolina for the win -- HERO!!

A few missed catches in an ugly win -- BUM!! A COMPLETE BUST!!

How about everyone taking a deep breath and giving the kid a chance .. he's OUR GUY until Miller recovers.

It's actually been more than 2 games if you have been following closely...Willson struggles to make catches in traffic and seems to not be able to adjust to a ball that is not perfectly thrown to him

 

[SnoCoHawk]

There is an awful lot of hyperbole here surrounding several players, Willson is this week's whipping boy. If he was to have a good game next week all will be forgiven, but another will be that week's whipping boy.

Nah, I've disliked his (lack of) catching ability all season. How many times has the ball hit him IN BOTH HANDS yet he doesn't catch it? Sure, he may have been in motion at the time, or was just standing there but had a couple of guys coming up fast to hit him, but he should still catch those. It's his job.

It'll be interesting to see what kind of opportunities the new TE gets, and who they're taken away from. Helfet did drop that onside kick, but Willson regularly drops passes so...either or both could be seeing less play.